Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Autumnal Equinox

This is Merrillee, reporting that for those who live in the Eastern Time Zone in the United States, the autumnal equinox will be tonight at 11:09 PM. It will occur at 3:09 AM Coordinated Universal Time on September 23. That means tomorrow will be the first day of fall in the northern hemisphere. The coordinated movement of the sun, stars and planets in the universe shows the way God set everything in motion and how it continues year to year. In my Community Bible Study classes this year, we are studying Genesis. We read how God made order out of chaos, and His world continues with that order centuries later.

I like what Jeremiah 31:35 says: "This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is his name:"

If you are at the Equator at the time of the either the vernal or fall equinox, day and night are almost equal in length. Here are a few photos of sunrises and sunsets. You'll notice there are a lot more sunsets than sunrises. Does that tell you I'm not a morning person?

Sunrise.

In this photo the sun hasn't quite made it's appearance over the Atlantic Ocean.

Here the sun has just appeared over the horizon as the waves wash onto the beach.

Sunset.

This is a sunset taken from a Jamaican beach.

This photo was taken from Negril in Jamaica.

This is a sunset looking over the dunes close to my home.

This photo was taken from my brother's back porch near Spokane, Washington.

God made some wondrous beauty when he set the world in motion with His perfect timing. In the northern hemisphere fall arrives at this time of year. Spring starts for those in the southern hemisphere.

Lynn,I'm with you. I like the cooler weather of fall, but I hate losing the longer hours of daylight. A couple of nights after dinner this week, I went for a walk, and it was almost dark before I got back.